Sucky Davis (b. 1772) died enslaved on October 5, 1844, at approximately 72 years old.

At the age of 14, she was purchased by slaver Josiah Collins I in Edenton, NC and was forcibly separated from her family. Taken back to the swampy wilderness that became Somerset Place in Creswell, NC.

Sucky was one of the first enslaved African American women bought to live and work on the plantation, and like most enslaved women at Somerset Place, she was a field worker.

As was the rule for all enslaved Black people she labored from sunup-to-sundown, six days per week to cultivate cash crops for the Collins family.

Sucky also had at least eight children, all of whom started families of their own. By the time of her death, she was a great-grandmother living with many of her family members in the two-story slave dwelling that stood here.

She ultimately had 131 direct descendants born into slavery at Somerset Place making her the head of one of the enslaved community’s largest family lines.

Sucky’s death was recorded in the plantations church, Lake Chapel register, and she was buried on the plantation grounds. .

Image: An outline of Sucky Davis' family lineage on display on Somerset Plantation Historic Site.
Narrative: Mostly from Somerset Plantation Historic Site.